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Science in Service

An Earth Day look at sustainability efforts of our national labs.

Science is often about service: About searching, growing, sustaining. So on this Earth Day, it's appropriate to note the strides that Office of Science labs are taking in sustainability. Here's a quick look at their Earth Day observances and ongoing sustainability efforts:

Ames Lab

Ames Lab has a sustainability page: https://www.ameslab.gov/sustainability
The page details the Lab's goals, ranging from reducing paper usage, to expanding recycling, to reducing greenhouse gases by encouraging commuting by biking, walking or public transportation.

In the area of reducing greenhouse gases, Ames Lab employees are participating in the National Bike Challenge (http://www.endomondo.com/campaign/nbc2013), and the team is logging the amount of carbon dioxide biking saved because team members biked instead of drove cars. The Ames Laboratory's team is currently in fifth place in Iowa, with 19 riders logging almost 500 miles and saving nearly 400 lbs. of carbon dioxide, and the challenge has just begun.

Argonne Lab

Argonne's 2013 Earth Day event (previewed in this video) will feature the laboratory's wide-ranging sustainability initiatives as well as ongoing research on energy conservation and efficiency:
Events and activities include:

Argonne Garden Club seed exchange

Tree planting by children who attend Argonne's Child Development Center

Energy bike interactive display: Participants ride the energy bike to feel how much effort it takes to power an incandescent light bulb versus a compact fluorescent light bulb or a light-emitting-diode bulb.

Plus many "green energy" R&D poster presentations by Argonne researchers.
You can learn more about Argonne's GreenLab sustainability initiative at https://blogs.anl.gov/greenlab/.

Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)

Earth Day 2013 is a big, lab-wide celebration at BNL. The day is packed with events, including an Earth Summit, and a host of tips and activities to encourage sustainability (see: http://www.bnl.gov/earthday/.)

BNL also showcases its commitment to sustainability with its design, construction, and operation of large-scale, cutting-edge research facilities, including the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), recently awarded a LEED Gold rating by the U.S. Green Building Council, and the just-dedicated Interdisciplinary Science Building for energy research, designed to reduce use of potable water by 55 percent and energy consumption by 37 percent.

The Department's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information please visit http://science.energy.gov/about.